Blood status
House of Black's family tree]] Blood status, also called purity of blood, is a concept in the wizarding world that distinguishes between family trees that have different levels of magically-endowed members. It often results in prejudice towards those who have a large number of Muggles in their families. As Sirius Black informed Harry Potter, almost all wizards of their time have Muggles in their family trees, though some claim not to. The concept played a key role in both the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Families that claim to be pure, to whatever extent they ever really were, are dwindling in number.F.A.Q. Are all the pure-blood families going to die out? at Levels of blood purity Muggle-borns is the daughter of two Muggle dentists]] A child born with magic to two Muggle parents is considered a Muggle-born. In wizarding Britain, they are allowed to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, although some other schools, such as Durmstrang Institute, do not admit Muggle-borns. Salazar Slytherin fell out of favour with the other Founders of Hogwarts because he wanted to limit attendance only to those from all-magic families. Those with prejudice against Muggles and their families often refer to such wizards as "Mudbloods," a highly offensive term implying that the individual has dirty and inferior blood. Those who discriminate against Muggle-borns believe that they do not deserve magic and should be excluded from the wizarding world, in spite of the fact that Muggle-borns are just as magically talented as those of other blood statuses. When the Ministry of Magic fell under the indirect control of Lord Voldemort during the Second Wizarding War, it began distributing propaganda against "Mudbloods" under the authorship of Dolores Umbridge. Muggle-borns were also forced to register with the Ministry's Muggle-Born Registration Commission, which accused Muggle-borns of having stolen their wands and sentenced them to Azkaban. This ended once Voldemort was defeated and the Ministry was reformed. Half-bloods are half-bloods, with known Muggle ancestry]] Wizards with parents or grandparents split between Muggles and wizards are referred to as half-bloods. Due to the dominance of the magic gene, children born to at least one magical parent will usually be magical themselves. This means that a non-magical child born to a Muggle and a wizard is considered a Squib, not a Muggle."Squibs" at J.K. Rowling's Official Site The term 'half-blood' is misleading in that it does not necessarily imply a half-and-half split in wizarding/Muggle ancestry, but rather a witch or wizard with muggle or muggle-born parents or grandparents.FAQ at - "I saw one in the Holocaust Museum in Washington when I had already devised the 'pure-blood', 'half-blood' and 'Muggle-born' definitions, and was chilled to see that the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda." By the 1990s, most of the magical population were half-bloods. - Ron: "Most wizards these days are half-blood any-way." The ancestry of a half-blood can be: The children of Harry and Ginny Potter are considered half-bloods because although Ginny is pure-blood, Harry's mother is Muggle-born. The term was used as an insult from members of fanatical pure-blood families. Walburga Black, for instance, was a fervent believer in pure-blood supremacy and her portrait at 12 Grimmauld Place often screamed "filthy half-bloods" and other insults at passers-by somewhat indiscriminately, which points to the mania surrounding blood purity. Bellatrix Lestrange was also known to have insulted Harry Potter and Severus Snape on the basis of their half-blood heritage. Some half-bloods also express prejudice against those with Muggle ancestry, despite having it themselves, often clinging to what wizarding heritage they do have. Lord Voldemort, the son of a pure-blood witch, Merope Gaunt and a Muggle Tom Riddle Snr, epitomises this. He hated Muggles and Muggle-borns and held his status as the Heir of Slytherin in great esteem. Pure-bloods Pure-blood families are wizards and witches without known Muggles or Muggle-borns on their family tree. Some have achieved this simply by removing any Muggles or squibs from their family trees and pretending they never existed.F.A.Q. Section at Many pure-bloods consider themselves to be akin to royalty in the wizarding world, or at the very least the elite. They often disdain those of different blood status and Muggles, some even arguing that Muggle-borns should not be admitted into the wizarding world. The Death Eater organisation took this philosophy to an extreme, striving to eliminate Muggle-borns altogether. To be pure-blood is an uncommon trait and their numbers continue to decline over time. To maintain their "pure-blood pedigree", families such as the House of Black and the House of Gaunt have practised inbreeding, accounting for the mental instability of certain family members. Those same families tend to disown members who accept Muggles or Muggle-born wizards into their lives. These family members would be deemed "blood traitors". For instance, the Blacks commonly blasted these relatives off the family tree tapestry. Mental Disorders and Walburga Black were second cousins]] Inbreeding amongst pure-blood families such as the Gaunts, Blacks, and Lestranges has been known to cause a tendency towards instability, violence, and enfeeblement. Members of these families are known for their psychopathic tendencies and inability to feel compassion towards others whom they regard as inferior such as Muggle-born wizards and the Muggle population in general. A large number of Death Eaters partake in the torture of other fellow wizards and witches, to the point of persecution and outright extermination, simply based upon their blood-status. Deterioration of their minds was overlooked as they had kept the proper pedigree praised by Salazar Slytherin and all those who followed his standards of what made a good or worthy Wizard/Witch. Known instances of inbreeding Squibs , a squib]] Squibs are individuals from wizarding families but have no magic themselves. One example is Argus Filch, who is so embarrassed by this that he hides it from students and studies magic fruitlessly in his spare time. Another example is Arabella Figg, who does not seem to particularly care that she has no skill in magic. Squibs appear to keep in contact with wizarding society, whereas Muggles have little to no contact, as they don't know it even exists. Squibs are generally looked upon with disdain by most wizards and witches. Even families like the Weasleys, who do not look down on Muggles or Muggle-borns, are rather embarrassed to have a Squib, who works as an accountant, in their family. Neville Longbottom's family was also upset at the prospect that he might be a Squib and repeatedly tried to scare accidental magic out of him when he was a child. Squibs are able to use magical devices, such as magic detectors, or other items whose magical capabilities are inherent, but not devices such as wands, which require magical abilities in the user. Muggle-borns are possibly descended from Squibs who married into Muggle families as in historic times went by the affectionate name of 'Magbobs' as the magic 'bobbed up' out of nowhere It is possible that a child or later descendant of Hector Dagworth-Granger, a famous potioneer, was a Squib, because Horace Slughorn stated to Hermione Granger that the two could have been related. This could be possible if magic in a family dies out. Half-breeds Half-breeds are humans with at least one non-human parent, although witches and wizards with non-human ancestry further back would also be considered half-breeds. They are very rare and have traits of both species, such as the ability to use magic and spell resistance in half-giants. Prejudice against half-breeds appears to be relatively common in the wizarding world, which is intolerant toward non-human peoples in general. "Half-breed" may be an insulting, rather than proper, term. It is known to be highly offensive to centaurs, though this may only be because it is in fact, incorrect: centaurs are their own non-human breed, rather than a mix of species. Known half-breed types Behind the scenes *It is stated all "pure-blood" families are interrelated. Muggle-borns are children of Muggles and have the magic gene possibly because of a squib, half-blood or pure-blood ancestor. Squibs are born into half-blood/pure-blood families but do not possess the power to use magic (though they would be carriers of the gene). Half-breeds are half-bloods/pure-bloods with a non-human ancestor. Muggles can become related and produce half-blood children when mixed with half-bloods/pure-bloods. A muggle may marry a squib and their descendants know nothing of their magical heritage until the gene resurfaces randomly. *There are many parallels to the notion of blood purity that exist in the Muggle world, largely in the form of racism and 19th Century pseudo-science. Examples of this being manifested include the Ku Klux Klan, European colonialism (where, for instance, the children of slave-owners and slaves were denied the legal status of the slave owner's white children), some parts of the British National Party, Combat 18, some parts of The UK Independence Party, The National Front, some extreme forms of Afrocentrism (which might advocate for Black people to only marry and have children with other Black people), discrimination against immigrants in various cultures, and the persecution and mass murder of racial minorities such as Jews, Roma, Slavs, so-called "Mischlings" and others by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler, promoting a society with a "pure Aryan race," is rumoured to have had a Jewish ancestor, and is thus similar to Lord Voldemort (Rowling herself compares the two figures). **A more direct parallel, however, is the formation of blood purity laws and the infamous Spanish Inquisition in Mediaeval Spain to regulate the activities of Spanish conversos (converts to Christianity from either Judaism or Islam). These conversos, although officially equal to their Christian brethren, were nonetheless scrutinised and even persecuted: if a converso showed any hint of heresy or apostasy, they would be subjected to auto-da-fé. **J. K. Rowling consciously drew such parallels: “The expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’ and ‘Muggle-born’ have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only ‘half’ wizard, because of his mother's parents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted ‘Aryan’ or ‘Jewish’ blood...the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda.” Note also that, like the Nazis, the Death-Eaters rise to power in the Second Wizarding War, an analogue of the Second World War. **Another direct parallel between blood purity and Harry Potter has been seen in the American Mafia. According to the code of the mafia, only men who are full-blooded Italian, meaning both parents are full Italian and can prove familial ancestry extending to Italy, are eligible to become "made men", or gain full-fledged mafioso status. In actuality, the American Mafia has found it increasingly difficult to adhere to those standards due to the large amount of immigration and intermarriages in the United States. Famous American mobster John Gotti, for instance, was born to a Serbian mother and an Italian father, and should not have been made according to his own standards. Newer mafia code has said that men who can prove Italian ancestry through patrilineal descent (father's side) are eligible to get made. **As in the ''Harry Potter'' universe, these parallels in Muggle society have caused great strife, suffering and cruelty in society. *An interesting fact of note is that despite the ideals that pure-bloods are inherently more powerful wizards, some of the most powerful or particularly adept wizards and witches in the series are in fact either half-blood (such as Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Harry Potter) or Muggle-born (such as Hermione Granger and Lily Evans). *There is probably no such thing as true blood purity any longer. This is because several pure-blood families have either died out, or mated with Muggles. Appearances * * * * * Notes and references es:Estatus de sangre ru:Чистота крови fr:Statut de Sang pl:Czystość krwi uk:Чистота крові zh:血统成分 Category:Genetics